February 28, 2007
Random weird thoughts I’ve had recently.
- Why does Bruegger’s call the soup I ate Italian Wedding Soup? That gives no description of it whatsoever. I ordered it because it was the only soup on the list not “creamy” or “cheesey” so I felt it was safe for my mild lactose intolerance. But - I had no idea what it would be and was just banking on my general love of soups when I ordered it. Do you know what it should be named? Yummy Beefy Soup With White Things (barley?) And Green Leaves (spinach?). It was SO GOOD. Way better than the name implies. Unless, of course, you’ve been to an Italian Wedding and had the soup - then you know how good it is.
- When the first warm days come during the end of winter, I always want to smoke. I think it’s because when I used to smoke, I always smoked outside. On gorgeous days it was an excellent excuse to sit out and enjoy the weather. Too bad it also was killing me. And making me smell like an ashtray. If it weren’t for those things I’d totally be smoking right now.
- Why is there so many different choices when it comes to black mascara? I mean - they all cost the same (at Target - I don’t know how to buy makeup at grownup places) - so why is it that there needs to be 52 different variations? And that’s all from the same brand. Not to mention the 19 different brands. Weird. Same with cereal. Does there really need to be an entire aisle of cereal but only a small section of an aisle for diapers? Shouldn’t we care more about poop-absorption than what combination of sugar and food coloring we get in our breakfast?
I’m done now. Thank you for your time.
Your right…it is barley and spinach. And did you know Campbell’s makes it in those soup at hand things you drink? They probably have it in regular cans too, but I’ve never seen it. I used to work at a restaurant that served that and every time I had to tell someone what the soup of the day was I’d get “what the hell is Italian wedding soup?”
three can never be enough varieties of cereal. EVER. I could use a wider range of diaper choises as well, since you brought it up. And italian wedding Soup? YES. SOOOOO GOOOOD. My grandma used to make it from scratch, and her meatballs had cheese in the middle of them. Mmmm…..
I miss smoking in the spring too. I liked to do it with the windows down while blaring good driving tunes.
You know what I found yesterday? Chocolate Lucky Charms. I just about died in the cereal aisle. Then I bought a box. But I’ve hid it so my husband won’t eat it. What’s wrong with me?
I have no idea why it’s called Italian Wedding Soup, but that seems to be pretty common here. It’s pretty good, although my favourite has to be Minestrone.
I’m thinking it was probably orginally served at Italian weddings
But yeah, it’s tasty stuff!
That soup is traditionally served at celebrations in Italy. In our family (I’m Italian), it’s called festival soup, and that green stuff you’re seeing is very likely escarole, and not spinach, as it’s the traditional ingredient. Usually, it includes pearl pasta, escarole and miniature meatballs in a chicken stock.
I’m totally with you on the smoking. I quit three years ago, and still want to be sitting on the back porch with a good book and cigarettes when the weather starts warming up.
Also, when we’re driving in the neighborhood and I see someone in their driveway smoking and talking to a neighbor, it makes me envious. I’m obviously a weirdo.
Italian Wedding Soup is actually called that, because back in the day when ppl were dirt poor, they could only afford the fixins for the soup once a yr, around someones wedding!
Mmmm, Italian wedding soup is one of my favorites. It actually has nothing to do with Italian weddings, its a mistranslation. I forget what the actual name of the soup is and I’m too lazy to google it. But it refers to the perfect combination of ingredients, not of people.
I’ve always wondered why it was called Italian wedding soup. Who knew your blog could be so educational!
In my (Italian family) we just call it escarole soup. When I make it’s similar to what another commenter wrote: chicken broth, beef meatballs, escarole, carrots, onions, pastina. It’s my favorite!
Found this on a website -
Italian wedding soup got its name from the Italian phrase si sposono bene, meaning that two things are well married. The marriage of the greens and meat in clear broth is such a delightful combination that it was widely described as si sposono bene, hence the English name “Italian wedding soup.†Historically, the soup actually had nothing to do with weddings in Italy, but has become a very popular tradition at Italian weddings in the United States.
There are hundreds of variation on the recipe, but the soup usually contains greens such as spinach, escarole or broccoli rabe; meatballs that might include chicken, turkey and beef; and orzo in a chicken broth.
Yeah, they don’t actually serve this soup in Italy at weddings…I think someone must have mistranslated it at some point along the way - and there’s a good explanation of that here:
http://italianfood.about.com/library/weekly/aa100498.htm
Julia - who lives in Italy and has been to MANY weddings…